Transfer device



Oct. 25, 193-8. w. F. KNYEBUS'CH 3L TRANSFER DEVICE Filed Aug. 21

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Patented Oct. 25, 1938 PATENT OFFICE TRANSFER DEVICE Walter F. Knebusch, Cleveland, and Foster F.

Hillix, Lakewood, Ohio, assignors to Industrial Rayon Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation 'of Delaware Application August 21, 193 5, Serial No. 37,253 I Claims. (c1.1s-s

This invention relates to a transfer mechanism for removing a thread from a rotating surface on which it is being wound. More particularly, the invention relates to a transfer wheel adapted to contact-with a rotating surface on which a wet thread is being wound to sever such thread and totransfer the thread end so formed to another surface which may also be rotating. The invention provides, among" other things, a disk-like member having elementsor groups of elements spaced around its periphery adapted to sever a thread which is winding on a rotating cylindrical surface. The device is particularly useful in con- 7 nection with reels which operate to advance a 1 5 thread in helical turns along its length, the transfer device acting to sever the thread and remove the free'end so formed, so that the thread can be transferred to another similar reel where the winding operation is repeated. i

The invention is especially useful in connection with the continuous spinning of artificial silk, in which all of the treatments necessary to finish an artificial silk thread coming from a spin bath are performed on the thread in succession on a number of reels arranged in regular order. Thus; in the viscose process ofv making artificial silk, the thread may be washed, desulphurized, bleached, etc., each operation being performed Whilethethread is passing over a separate reel.

The method is continuous in'that the'th'rea'd automatically winds in approximately helical form along a given reel, runs'fror'n this reel onto the next reel, travels along the second reel in the same manner, and so on until the finished thread is taken up on a packaging device. Such a machine is described in copending application Ser.

No. 651,404, filed January 12, 1933,- and the present mechanism may be used therewith or wherever it is desired to transfer a. traveling #10 thread from one surface to another without interrupting the running of the thread.-

- While the transfer mechanism can be used in connection with various forms of, reels for wind; ing thread, its operation will be described in connection=withthe form of reel set forth in application Ser. No. .652,0 89,-filed January 16, 1933,wher'ein-is disclosed a reel consisting of two cage members made up of laterally extending intermeshing bars, the cage members being mounted for rotation about axes both offset and canted or askew with respect to each other. As the bars of the respective cage members move in and out due to this oifset relation of their axes, the turns of thread are alternately picked up and dropped by each set of bars, the turns being dropped onto the bars slightly forward or the position which they last occupied due to the canted relation of the axes. This results in axial travel of the thread .along the reel until it has come to the end thereof and is ready to be trans- 5 ferred'to another similar reel. 1 Some automatic means to effect thistransfer from reel to reel is desirable in order that each thread end may be caused to wind over the several reels provided for the application of the 10 solutions required for the various treatments to which the thread is subjected. Such a transfer canto advantage be employed when the machine is set first in operation, which'is done by applying the thread from a spin'bath to the 16 first reel, causing it to wind over the first reel; transferring it to the second reel, completing the travel on this reel, and again transferring, until the-finished thread is run off onto the final pack. aging device. Breakage of a thread during 20 operation of the machine also necessitates transfer. Manual transfer is possible but naturally automatic transfer is preferred, especially since the number of transfers isvery large where a commercial quantity of 'thread is being spun. 25 Furthermore, removal of the thread from the reel is made difficult by the :fact that the thread is wet by the various baths to which it is subjected and tends to cling to the-bars of the reel. Also,

the liquid is showered onto the reels and tends to 30 wash following turns of thread over the leading end. -Where the trueileading end is thus bound under following turns, a' transfer mechanism should be'used which is capable of creating a new free leading end by severance of the thread back 33 of. the true end.

Another problem which arises in connection with such transfer devices is the requirement that the severing edges which are presentedto the reel must necessarily bear thereagainst with so sufficient rigidity to cut the thread when contact is made therewith but atthe same time this rigidity must be neither so great that the transfer mechanisms will become worn out quickly and require replacement nor so great that a groove 4..)

.will be worn in the winding'reelresulting-in abrasion and breaking of *the still SOft,Wel3 thread during operation of the machine. For this reason,a mechanism is required which is moderately flexible, so that. it yields. somewhat upon .50 contact with the reel but yet may be urged against the thread with sufficient firmness to sever such thread. Forv the purposes of this invention, such moderate flexibility, if not actually inherent in the device employed, may be at- 55 tained by modifying the flexibility of the threadsevering elements; e. g., limiting the flection of highly flexible elements.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide means of moderate flexibility for automatically forming a new leading end on a threadlike article being wound on a rotating surface and removing such leading end from the surface. Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for automatically transferring a helically winding thread from one rotating surface to another. A further object of the invention is to provide a transfer mechanism having flexible thread-severing elements or groups of elements for severing and transferring a winding thread. Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear more in detail hereinafter.

In the drawing, which illustrates several of the various forms which the invention may take, Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly broken away, of one embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a vertical section taken through Figure 1; Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 of another embodiment of the invention; Figure 4. is a corresponding section through Figure 3; Figure 5 is an elevation of still another embodiment; Figure 6 is a vertical section therethrough; and Figure 7 is a fragmentary view in elevation of a transfer mechanism constructed in accordance with the invention mounted in operative relation to a threadprocessing reel.

The invention is adapted for use in connection with any process of making artificial filaments, as, for example, artificial silk or rayon, such as the cuprammonium, cellulose acetate, cellulose nitrate and viscose processes; but it is especially valuable in connection with the viscose process and will be more particularly described in relation. thereto, although no limitation is thereby implied. .In fact, the apparatus will be found useful wherever it is necessary to transfer a thread from a rotating surface to another surface, particularly if the thread to be transferred is wet and tends to cling to the surface from which it is to be removed.

Referring to Figure 7 of the drawing, a spinning reel I consists of a cage member 2, carrying longitudinally extending bars 3, and a cage member 4, carrying intermeshing bar members 5, the two sets of bars moving in. and out radially with respect to each other due to the offset between their respective axes of rotation. As the turns of thread reach the end of the reel, they encounter the transfer mechanism 6, illustrated as ofthe type shown in Figures 1 and 2, which isv mounted to rotate in contact with the bars on a bracket 1. This bracket is mounted in the reel housing 8 by means of a rubber gasket 9 and may be adjustable in relation to the reel. A belt I l drives the transfer mechanism from a suitable source of power (not shown). The mechanism 6 is rotated in the same angular direction as the reel l in order that the thread-severing elements. l2 may move in the opposite direction to the bars 3 and 5 at-the point of contact to effect detachment. of the severed end from the reel. The thread end then drops through the opening la in the reel housing 8 to contact with the surface of another reel placed therebelow or otherwise disposed in proximity to reel l.

The device illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 comprises a homogeneous disk-like member 14 suitably mounted upon an axle l5 which: preferably takes the form, as in Figures 1 and 2, of a rigid spindle to which is clamped the disk-like member l4. Projecting at spaced regular intervals from the periphery of the disk-like member I4 are the separated thread-severing laminae I6, each of which is preferably embedded in the material of which is composed the disk-like member II. The separated laminae l6, which may be of any convenient-shape, should preferably be of material resistant to the effects of the chemicals employed in the finishing process such, for example, as stainless steel, nickel, aluminum or synthetic compositions such as cellulose acetate. The individual elements are preferably very thin, being of the order of but a minor fraction of an inch, and project slightly from the periphery of disklike member l4. Each is preferably anchored against movement by means of a dovetail 20, lip or other equivalent means.

The separated laminae l6 are characterized by a relatively high degree of inherent flexibility, the effect of which is somewhat reduced by the disposition of the separated laminae l6, as shown, in the material of which the disk-like member I4 is composed. By embedding or otherwise disposing the separated laminae I6 in the disk-like member H in such fashion that only a relatively small portion of each projects outward from the periphery of the disk like member H, the material of which the body of, disk-like member I4 is composed may be employed to inhibit or modify this high degree of I inherent flexibility. Conveniently, the disk-like mmeber I may be formed of such materials as hard rubber, phenol-aldehyde condensation products, or cellulosie plastics such as cellulose acetate, the separated laminae l6 being preferably, but not necessarily. secured in place by molding the disk-like member I4 with the separated laminae I6 disposed in their proper relative positions. Molding is not, however, the only way of attaining the desired end: insertion of the separated laminae I 6 into preformed slots in the disk-like member H or any other means of introducing the separate laminae l6 into the disk-like member I 4 may be employed instead.

In Figures 3 and 4 is illustrated a modification in which a disk-like member l1, comprising separated rings Ila and llb mounted on an annulus I8, is clamped between axle l9, taking the form of a rigid spindle, and cap nut 2|. In this modification, the thread-severing elements comprise laminae 22, preferably disposed in separated groups about, the periphery of the disk-like member H. The laminae 22 may be of any suitable metal having in thin form a high degree of inherent flexibility such, for example, as thin plates of stainless steel, aluminum, nickel or of syn- ,thetic compositions, such as cellulose acetate,

celluloid or regenerated cellulose. They are conveniently held in separated group form by means of an inner row of retaining pins 23, around which they are bent'so that their ends are disposedradially about the periphery of the disklike member H. In order to limit flection, thereby inhibiting the eflect of the relatively high degree of flexibility of the laminae 22, a second series of pins 24 is preferably disposed between the individual groups of laminae 22' not far from the periphery of the disk-like member ll. As in the case of the device shown in Figures I and 2, the modification illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 provides a thread-severing action arisingfrom the fact that the laminae, stiffened to the extent indicated, yield only moderately to the bar members 3 and 5, preventing, vundue'wear and at the same time making possible effective threadsevering action.

Figures and 6 disclose still another modification of the invention comprising a disk-like member 25 made up of rings 25a, and 25b separated by spacing ring 30 and rigidly mounted as a unit on an annulus 26 which is clamped between the axle 21, taking the form of a rigid spindle, and cap nut 28. The thread-severing elements in the device shown in Figures 5 and 6 comprise metallic bristles 29 of a high inherent degree of flexibility disposed at very short intervals around the periphery of the disk-like member 25, the same being retained in proper relation to the axle 2'! by retaining rings 3|, of which one or more, as desired, may be present. In order to modify the very high degree of inherent flexibility of said thread-engaging elements 29, .they are compacted by means of annular inwardly extending ribs 32 formed on rings 25a and 25b,by means of which the thread-severing elements 29 are more or less condensed with the result that their freedom of flection in a circumferential direction is somewhat lessened.

By thus inhibiting the very high degree of inherent flexibility of the thread-engaging members 29, it is possible to retain, as with the device of Figures 1 and 3, a moderate resistance to bar members 3 and 5 which, without resulting in excessive wear, makes for effective thread-severing action. If desired, the outer edges of the rings 25a and 25b may be serrated, as indicated at 33, in order to assist in severing any random threads that may not be severed by the thread-severing elements 29. Obviously it is not necessary that the thread-severing elements 29 be of metal, since they may conveniently be of any other suitable material, but it has been found that metal bristles, compacted as indicated, give satisfactory threadsevering action.

Any of the modifications described herein may be used with a continuous spinning machine of the type referred to above, one transfer wheel being placed in contact with each spinning wheel to effect the transfer from one reel to the next. The reels may be superposed with one reel lying substantially below the preceding, or stepped, staggered, horizontally aligned or, in fact, disposed in any suitable way. The transfer wheel will effectively sever the winding thread on the reel with which it is in contact and remove the same therefrom, causing it to contact with the next reel in the series. The transfer mechanism may, of course, be used in any other installation wherein it is desired to transfer a wet thread from a rotating surface to another surface. Numerous changes may of course be made in the design of member.

these devices without departing from the spirit of the invention.

It isintended that the patent shall cover by suitable expression in the appended claims, whatever features of patentable novelty reside in the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a thread processing apparatus including comprises a homogeneous disk in which said inherently flexible elements are embedded.

3. Thread processing apparatus according to claim 1 in which said inherently flexible elements are disposed approximately radially with respect to the axis of said rotatable carrying member.

4. Thread processing apparatus according to claim 1 in which said inherently flexible elements are collected in a plurality of spaced groups about said rotatable carrying member.

5. Thread processing apparatus according to claim 1 in which said inherently flexible elements take the form of laminae.

6. In a thread processing apparatus including a rotatablethread-storage,thread-advancingdevice, means for transferring thread from said device comprising a rotatable carrying member, a plurality of flexible elements projecting from said member, and stiffening means engaging said elements at one or more points along their lengths, said thread transferring means being disposed in such relation to said thread-storage, thread-advancing device that the projecting portions of said flexible elements bear against the-surface of said transferred.

7. Thread processing apparatus according to claim 6 in which said stiffening means act upon said flexible elements from opposite directions.

8. Thread processing apparatus according to claim 6 in which said stiffening means tend to compact said flexible elements in a plane perpendicular to the axis of said rotatable carrying WALTER F. KNEBUSCH.

FOSTER F. HILLIX.

, CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION. Patent No. 2,1 ,99 7 October 25,19 8.

WALTER F. .KNEBUSCH, ET- AL.

.It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows Page'2, second column, line 52 for "mmeber" read member; page 5, second column, line 18',

claim 1, strike out thewords and syllable "device engage and remove the thread to be trans-";and that the said Letters Patent shouldbei'read with this correction therein that the same'inay conform to the record of the case I in the Patent Office.

"Signed and sealed this 6th dayof December, A. D. 1938.,

, Henry Van Arsdale (Seal) v Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

